


home is wherever i'm with you

by vailserenity



Category: X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: Age of X-Man (Marvel Comics), M/M, No DOX Spoilers, a "what if shatterstar was in aoxm" fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:15:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23324590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vailserenity/pseuds/vailserenity
Summary: Sometimes, people disappear. He doesn't question it. Julio went from slight-rebel-on-the-side to flat out illegal-movie-watching-club-president. His luck of being passed over by the law will run out soon, but that's a problem for future-Julio. Current Julio's problem is the man who just walked through the door.Objectively, he's attractive. His hair is definitely… something, and he has a weird tattoo over his eye that seems maybe a little cultish to Julio, but he accepts it. There's two swords strapped to his back and that's a little more concerning, but it's not like Julio is in any place to tell him what's right and wrong. Oh, he's also about seven-foot tall. A little intimidating, not that Julio would ever admit it. What's this guy going to do, stab him? Challenge him to a duel? Julio assumed the answer is no, so he's hopefully safe.(or, a what-if shatterstar was in age of xman!au)
Relationships: Julio Richter/Shatterstar
Comments: 4
Kudos: 32





	home is wherever i'm with you

**Author's Note:**

> hey y'all ! so i started writing this during aoxm and finished it now bc of corona. i reject current canon ric and star and still together ! gay rights ! i hope you enjoy it

_ Love is forbidden _ , they say. Julio isn't entirely sure who  _ they _ is - the government, the law, some higher entity beyond understanding, even? Either way,  _ someone _ says that love is forbidden and Julio couldn't care less.

  
  


The whole physical intimacy and Any And All Relationships are forbidden though, that's a much bigger issue to Julio. It's been like this for as long as he can remember - ever since he was born, as soon as he learnt to speak and walk, everywhere he went he heard  _ don't love, or else they'll get you. we're not meant to love _ .

  
  


There's a system in place and Julio doesn't know why it's forbidden, but he won't question it. Questioning leads to nothing good and he doesn't want to push his luck and end up in a worse place. So, he quietly disregards the whole  _ intimacy is not allowed!!!!  _ rule, lives his life, and hopes that whoever  _ they  _ is, they don't find him.

  
  


When he was thirteen, he saw another boy his age. There was something about him, and Julio couldn't put a word to it because such a word didn't exist. He'd sneak quiet glances at him and whisper quiet words and exchange notes quietly. 

  
  


Or at least, that's what thirteen-year-old Julio assumed when he found a note under the sole of his shoe, addressed to a name he recognized but didn't know. He'd see pictures and think that someone was missing but, no one was. There was something  _ off _ about it all but Julio knows not to question, just to accept it when anyone asks and ignore it when nobody is watching.

  
  


So, life continues. Julio has a few more… Experiences. More than he thinks he can remember. Not all of them have been taken from him - he's been careful, and his caution increases with each person who disappears with no trace but a faint memory in Julio's mind.

  
  


Life continues. He's twenty-one by this point. Snuck into a movie. They're showing something by that one studio everyone loves but Julio was never as enraptured by. He stays for Kurt Wagner though. On his way out, he hears two girls whispering. Too loud to slip under the radar. 

  
  


"And  _ then _ , they handed it to me! So now I have this and-"

  
  


Doesn't sound too interesting. The cracks in the concrete instead captures his attention - one, two-

  
  


"You  _ have  _ to get rid of that. That's like, totally against the guiding principles!"

  
  


Ignore the cracks. Hone in on the conversation. Drift over to them, and-

  
  


"Can I have it?"

  
  


Julio isn't sure what compelled him to walk over to two complete strangers and ask them for their, possibly illegal, possessions.

  
  


(Later, someone might call it fate. Julio stands by that it was just dumb-luck and in the moment recklessness.)

  
  


To her credit, the second girl looks dubiously at him, studying him with a raised expression. Props to her for realising that a random passerby asking for contraband was out of the ordinary. First girl does just about the opposite. She thrusts a bag into Julio's hands, lets out a string of words resembling  _ pleasedonttellanyone _ and scampers off, second girl trailing behind her.

  
  


Julio walks home, Mystery Bag in hand, and for some reason, he feels like he's won something.

  
  


(Julio finds out that the bag contains discs. He closes his curtains, lowers the volume and watches them with a rapt interest. These are  _ real _ . They're emotion and authentic and  _ true _ and Julio loves them so much.)

  
  


(He leaves the question of why he asked the thin-air beside him if it the movies needed speeding up for another day. Julio has learnt not to question.)

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Julio finds a broken-down cinema. He sets about repairing it. It's not perfect, but it's  _ his  _ and it's the first thing in his life that feels  _ right _ .

  
  


He watches the movies again and again for the next two weeks. They don't seem to get old - he can rewatch and rewatch and each time it's just a little more rebellion, a little more familiarity. 

  
  


He knows that out there, there are more like this. That these seven movies, these fourteen or so hours of wonder, are only the beginning, but-

  
  


Knock on the door of his apartment. He doesn't have anyone he'd expect to come over. He doesn't open it, because they say that if you don't open the door they may just leave and you'll get to rebel another day, and. The door opens anyway. Julio doesn't lock it.

  
  


"Julio Richter, I am Northstar. Feel free to call me Jean-Paul. We've met before."

  
  


Julio doesn't know him. His voice is achingly familiar, but there's this haze over his memory and he can't quite place it but he knows that, for whatever reason this  _ Northstar _ is here, it isn't good.

  
  


"Alright, I know the drill. Relationships banned and whatever. Take me away, make me disappear,  _ amigo _ ."

  
  


Northstar clears his throat. Julio might have seen him on TV before but that's not where he knows him from. They've met face-to-face before, but Julio can't place where and he hates it.

  
  


"I'm not here on business. I'm aware you're in the possession of some movies?"

  
  


He  _ can't  _ take them. Take Julio's memories, take his friends and experiences and remove him from photos, take his personality, take  _ anything  _ else, but not the movies. Not the only things he'd ever felt to be real. The only thing that made him feel well and truly alive. Julio won't let that happen.

  
  


(Jean-Paul didn't come to take them. Julio is completely and utterly shocked that the next day, he can remember it all with sharp clarity. They watched something called  _ Titanic  _ together. Jean-Paul cried. Gave Julio another movie. Left.)

  
  


(It's an Experience, but not like those of the past. This was new and wonderful and Julio can't believe he's only known about these things for the past two weeks of his life.)

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


He has eight movies now. Jean-Paul handed him one titled  _ The Princess Bride _ and it's probably Julio's favourite so far. There's a line in it, where some called Inigo Montoya says  _ you killed my father. prepare to die _ . and it reminds Julio of something. A nudge on his side, a nod at the screen, a voice whispering, "that's what you sounded like to Cable."

  
  


He doesn't know who the hell "Cable" is. He doesn't know who the hell the  _ voice  _ is. He doesn't question it.

  
  


He starts playing the movies on a weekly rotation - one a day, two on Sundays. More occasionally appear, sometimes shoved into his hands by a person attending, sometimes left at his apartment door with a note signed  _ JP _ . Life continues, and it's good.

  
  


Sometimes, people disappear. He doesn't question it. Julio went from slight-rebel-on-the-side to flat out illegal-movie-watching-club-president. His luck of being passed over by the law will run out soon, but that's a problem for future-Julio. Current Julio's problem is the man who just walked through the door.

  
  


Objectively, he's attractive. His hair is definitely… something, and he has a weird tattoo over his eye that seems maybe a little cultish to Julio, but he accepts it. There's two swords strapped to his back and that's a little more concerning, but it's not like Julio is in any place to tell him what's right and wrong. Oh, he's also about seven-foot tall. A little intimidating, not that Julio would ever admit it. What's this guy going to do, stab him? Challenge him to a duel? Julio assumed the answer is  _ no _ **_,_ ** so he's hopefully safe.

  
  


He comes in every day for a week and says nothing, just watches whichever movie is playing with rapt attention. He mouths along the words to some of them. He bops his head to the one musical they have. He claps during the credits.

  
  


Not the weirdest person Julio has seen here, but he's intriguing. He continues to come the next week, and the week after that, and Julio decides to start asking questions.

  
  


(His name is Shatterstar. Julio doesn't want to point out how much of a mouthful that is, especially since Shatterstar still has his swords dangerously close to his grasp. He calls him 'Star and introduces himself as Julio but 'Star calls him Rictor and it feels  _ right _ .)

  
  


(He doesn't ask why 'Star called him that. He assumes it's just a mispronunciation of his last name. One question was enough for that night.)

  
  


Something about 'Star is familiar and Julio hates that he can't place it. Maybe he's one of Julio's past Experiences. The boy who's note was stuck to the sole of his show, or the stranger he met at the concert and stayed the night with. 

  
  
  


Either way, 'Star comes back. Watches the movies. Rewatches the ones he's already seen. Talks with Julio. 

  
  
  


"I know this one.” ‘Star states one day. The theater is empty, save for them. It’s a new movie; this is the first time either of them have seen it.

“No, you don’t,” Julio says. “It’s new. We’re screen-testing it.”

“ _ No, _ ” ‘Star insists, “I know it, I know it-” he pauses, silent, glances at the screen, “ _ We’re gonna have to work at this every day, but I want to do that because I want-”  _

‘Star is speaking in unison with the character on screen, voice lilting at the same points, almost mirroring their movements, and Julio has never been more confused.

“Uh, ‘Star? You good?”

_ “Shut up _ , Rictor, I need to listen, I  _ know  _ this, I’ve watched it, I-”

“Alright, dude, you need to calm down, we can pause the movie, it’ll still be there. You need to slow down and breathe for me, okay?”

Julio doesn’t approach him. He knows well enough by now that ‘Star’s hands flick far too close to his swords for comfort if you try to approach him without his permission. Julio is lucky he hasn’t been stabbed yet.

“No,  _ no _ , I  _ know  _ this, Rictor, Julio, I have watched this, I have seen  _ so many _ , I-”

‘Star cuts off. He starts rambling in a language Julio has never heard but can understand. ‘Star’s saying too much in too little time and none of it makes sense. ‘Star starts a sentence with words about Toto and Kansas and ends it talking about X-Force and Cable.  _ Cable _ . Julio remembers the name. He doesn’t remember the person.

It seems ‘Star does, and Julio can only wonder what telepath is fucking with them this time. 

“ _ Julio _ . I remember  _ everything _ .”

  
Perhaps if Julio had done something differently, had looked at ‘Star with anything other than confusion, had asked him to continue, had done  _ anything  _ else.

But he just stood there, whilst ‘Star looked lost and scared and  _ alone.  _ Scared of whatever breakdown this movie had just pushed him into. Scared of whatever he remembers. Scared that Julio is looking at him with everything but recognition.

“‘Star…?” Julio tries, but it’s too late. ‘Star is out the door, and he’s gone.

  
  
  


The next day Jean-Paul appears, offering condolences, telling him that ‘Star was taken in, that he’s sorry one of Julio’s regular patrons will not be returning.

“Julio?” He asks, catching his attention.

“Don’t call me-” Julio begins, but trails off. He’s silent for a second too long, before, “Yeah, don’t call me that. Use Rictor.”

Jean-Paul does not press. 

“Goodbye, then, Rictor. I’ll see you tonight.”

Rictor.  _ Rictor _ . 

‘Star is gone and yet Julio can remember him and this name he’s been given by him. ‘Star is gone and Julio-

  
Julio remembers nothing, and he’s not willing to accept that any longer.

  
  
  


Julio remembers everything at once. ‘Star,  _ ‘Star _ , how could he forget?

He shouts about it being time for  _ big, gay apocalypse, round two!  _ He’s going to the prison  _ right now _ , because that’s where ‘Star is, and that’s his priority. He’s almost faster than Jean-Paul as he sprints, because he doesn’t want to be the one waiting for all this to be fixed any longer. He’ll dismantle the prison brick by brick if he has to. 

  
  
  


It’s chaos, and so much is happening, and yet-

‘Star is insanely tall. His hair is the most garish shade of orange to exist. He isn’t exactly subtle. Julio finds him. Crashes into him.

“‘ _ Star,”  _ he breathes, “‘Star, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I didn’t remember-”

“ _ Shut up, Julio, _ ” Shatterstar quotes, except it’s good-naturedly and he’s smiling, and it’s a little feral which is understandable considering the situation, but more than that it’s ‘Star. His ‘Star. “This is the last time either of us will forget.”

Julio is crying a little, which is a little embarrassing considering he has a persona to keep up and he’s surrounded by people he now realizes he knows, but. It’s ‘Star. ‘Star doesn’t care, and that’s all Julio cares about right now.

“Right. We won’t forget. Fuck forgetting. We stay together.”

Shatterstar nods and Julio realizes why his life felt so incomplete without him.

“ _ Codlista _ ?” 

“ _ Codlista,  _ Julio.”

  
And it’s just  _ them,  _ alone in a crowd of rioters, a certain amount of fire lighting buildings around them, and Julio has never felt like anything was more  _ right. _


End file.
